"Complete."

After an unknown amount of time, a grand, cold voice with a metallic, mechanical quality sounded.

Cao Yi's expression changed.

"Main Quest: Assist the host in becoming a unique and unparalleled Daoist, transforming the Jade Void Temple into the greatest Daoist temple in the history of all realms!"

"Failure Punishment: Immortality."

Lines of large characters glowing with purple brilliance appeared before him.

An unparalleled Daoist!

The greatest Daoist temple in the history of all realms!

The difficulty of the main quest is not low!

Uh, the punishment for failure is actually immortality!

What kind of punishment is this?

This is something that many people seek but can never attain.

Not to mention figures from myths and web novels.

In history, the Qin Shi Huang, who unified the lands and whose achievements covered the universe; and Emperor Wu of Han, who established unprecedented dignity for a nation and instilled confidence in his people for millennia, both engaged in countless absurdities in pursuit of immortality.

Cao Yi silently complained in his heart.

"In the world where the quest fails, immortality comes with aging."

The mechanical voice of the system sounded again.

That's a different story!

"Beginner Quest: Copy the ‘Yellow Court Scripture' from another world once."

"Reward: One golden elixir."

The beginner quest has arrived.

Hmm, copying the ‘Yellow Court Scripture' once will earn him a golden elixir! This beginner quest is pretty good.

Suddenly, a small orb of golden light appeared in mid-air. At its core was a blue, thread-bound book, no larger than a fingernail, floating as if in water.

Not knowing what the system was up to, Cao Yi made no move.

In the next half minute, the fingernail-sized blue book gradually grew larger, eventually resembling an ordinary thread-bound book.

The golden glow surrounding it faded little by little, leaving behind an ordinary blue thread-bound book.

Only then did Cao Yi reach out to take it. The surface of the book felt excellent, smoother than the finest silk, making it hard to put down.

Taking a deep breath, he opened it to the first page.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Old Lord idles away in seven words, explaining forms and the various gods."

"Above is the Yellow Court, below the Gate of Origin, behind is the Shadow Palace, before the Fate Gate."

…

Seeing the ‘Yellow Court Scripture' from another world was not much different from the modern world's version. Cao Yi felt a bit disappointed and closed the book, opened the door, and was about to step outside when he suddenly paused, turned, and bowed to the statue of the Three Pure Ones before leaving the room.

Uh! As soon as he stepped out of the shrine, Cao Yi froze. How could everything return to normal so quickly after such a big commotion?

At this moment, the sky was clear for miles, the sunlight gently shining down, and a mild breeze blew across his face, cool yet refreshing.

"It seems the earlier scene was related to the system's arrival," Cao Yi murmured as he crossed the small courtyard to a room filled with various Daoist items.

In the center, a pearwood desk stood alone, covered with white paper, yellow paper, an inkstone, and brushes…

When his master was still around, they often practiced drawing talismans and writing together; everything felt as if it were just yesterday.

Cao Yi sighed, placed the ‘Yellow Court Scripture' from another world down, opened it to the first page, laid out the white paper, picked up a brush, dipped it into the not-so-fresh ink in the inkstone, focused, and began to write.

The ‘Yellow Court Scripture' has over a thousand characters, which would take no more than half a minute to read in a web novel.

Writing it out by hand, especially with a brush, was exceedingly slow. Cao Yi spent a full hour writing, his wrist sore and numb by the end.

"Task completed, reward: one golden elixir."

In front of him, a red light appeared out of nowhere, at the core of which a golden gas writhed as if alive. Suddenly, the golden gas ignited, and within the flames, a bean-sized golden elixir formed!

"Golden Elixir."

Cao Yi's breath quickened, his gaze intense.

After a moment, the flames died down, leaving behind a small but lustrous golden elixir.

Cao Yi cautiously reached out, examining it closely. The surface of the golden elixir was not smooth; it bore many incomplete innate Eight Trigram patterns and dragon motifs.

"System, should I eat it directly?"

"Eat it directly."

Since the system said so, Cao Yi, who had initially worried about exploding from the elixir, opened his mouth and placed the golden elixir inside.

There was no immediate melting as in legends. Cao Yi tried to bite down but couldn't, so he swallowed it whole.

Roar!

A sound reminiscent of a dragon's roar emanated from his throat, followed by a fragrant herbal scent bursting from his nostrils. So rich was the aroma that it turned into two golden strands over a foot long, cascading down to his chest. At the same time, billions of cells throughout his body cheered, desperately absorbing the medicinal energy, as if his body's meridians had been opened. A feeling of lightness, almost like becoming an immortal, enveloped him.

Boom!

His blood boiled, golden energy surged from within, and Cao Yi felt as if he was bathing in a golden ocean.

All these changes led to a qualitative leap in his body.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore, the sound of Howlingsky moving... all came through clearly.

Within his muscles, it felt as if a dragon was roaring, as if it were trying to break free!

After a long while, as the medicinal power faded, Cao Yi opened his eyes, a hint of golden light flickering in his gaze, resembling flames.

Hoo!

Cao Yi exhaled, clenching his fists tightly, feeling an inexhaustible strength coursing through his entire body.

"With the medicinal energy, the spirit takes form; when the Dao aligns with the mystical, it becomes natural. After swallowing a golden elixir, I begin to understand that my fate is not dictated by heaven."

Unable to resist, Cao Yi recited a poem by the founder of the Southern School of Daoism, Master Zhang Boduan.

Buzz...

A mosquito buzzed by, fluttering its wings lightly.

Even in such cold weather, there were still mosquitoes!

What is this?

Cao Yi was astonished to discover that he could clearly see the mosquito's antennae, which were thread-like and quite dense.

Once, he had read online that mosquitoes are divided into male and female; male mosquitoes have thread-like antennae, and the hairs on them are generally denser than those of females. This meant that it was a male mosquito.

He reached out and gently swatted at it, something he would normally do just to drive away mosquitoes, but unexpectedly, he hit it directly.

It fluttered momentarily before dropping to the ground.

It's dead!

Cao Yi looked at his palm, amazed by the changes the golden elixir had brought him.